Celebrate Ireland’s Greatness With Their Hottest Homegrown Heroes

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Ireland has brought so much to our culture. The colour green. Soda bread. Rainbows. Music to jig to.

And also, a whole bunch of attractive people. There must be the same thing in the water in Ireland that we have here in Canada that helps breed such lookers.

So to celebrate that beautiful country and this joyous holiday, we gathered a list of the hottest Irish people. You are welcome.

Domhnall Gleeson

From: Dublin

With that red hair and that twinkle in his eye, actor Domhnall is an Irish gem. He is following in the footsteps of his super dupes famous actor dad Brendan Gleeson – ya know, Mad-Eye Moody. You may recognise Domhnall from his role in the Harry Potter films as Bill Weasley but you will definitely start seeing a lot more of him after he stars in the indie sci-fi Ex Machina and of course the latest Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Hozier

From: Bray

Hmmm… you may have heard of this lad recently. He had that hit, you know, “Take Me To Church”. It was kind of HUGE. Today, Spotify announced that he was the most streamed Irish artist of all time. Maybe U2 fans haven’t checked out Spotify yet. It also turns out that today, St. Patrick’s Day is his birthday. That must be some amazing good luck omen in Ireland.

Chris O’Dowd

From: Boyle

Chris O’Dowd stole our hearts as the loveable cop that Kristin Wiig falls for in Bridesmaids . And we fell for him too. I think it would be impossible for him to play a villain. He is just so likeable. Next we will see him in the Tim Burton adaptation of the best selling novel Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children renamed the nominally shorter Peregrine’s Home for Peculiars.

On Being An Irish Comedian In America: “I’ve always thought the Irish brand of humour is more closely aligned to American humour than it is to English humour. English humour is more sardonic, like The Office. The two versions of The Office are a perfect portrayal of what I’m talking about. They’re both brilliant but, tonally, very different. The English one is cringey, the Brits do awkward comedy brilliantly. I don’t think that’s an Irish thing.”

Eve Hewson

From: Dublin

Total beauty Eve Hewson is the daughter of Ireland’s most celebrated son other than St. Patrick himself, Bono. Eve has carved out a great acting career for herself starring as both Sean Penn and James Gandolfini’s daughters in two films and a role in the highly praised Steven Soderbergh television show The Knick. Next she will appear in Bridge of Spies, a Cold War film directed by Steven Spielberg starring Tom Hanks.

On Being The Daughter Of Famous Irishman Bono: “What’s great about Hollywood is that it is so cutthroat, and it really fucking doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re not right for the part, you’re not right the part. No director is going to sacrifice their film because they want someone’s famous kid in it for a headline.”

Jamie Dornan

From: Holywood, Northern Ireland

If there is something in the water in Ireland, it most be in a double dosage in Northern Ireland because Jamie Dornan is fine. Of course everyone knows him as Christian Grey in the 50 Shades of Grey movie but they really did him a disservice by making him shave his beard. He has a few projects coming up including a movie about a plot to kill the head of the SS in 1941. He has also already signed on for the two Fifty Shades sequels.

On His Irish Complexion At A Calvin Klein Shoot: “A lot of people rubbing me down with dark, oily tanning stuff – I mean, I’m a white Irish guy, it was a problem.”

Evanna Lynch

From: Termonfeckin

We couldn’t make this list with only one Harry Potter cast member. We had to have at least two. Evanna played one of the most memorable and beloved characters in the Harry Potter world, the whip smart and eccentric Luna Lovegood. She made radish earrings cool. Evanna has continued acting after the end of the series in a few film, stage and television projects. She is also a UNICEF Ireland High Profile Supporter.

Niall Horan

From: Mullingar

Let’s be honest. Niall is probably the most famous person on this list. He is a member of One Direction for crying out loud! He sent out a special message today to all of his fellow countrymen and women.

Happy St.patricks day to all my fellow paddys! you know the drill for the 17th of March, I'm at it all already! #ProudToBeIrish

Saoirse has the most beautiful Gaelic name but it definitely is not pronounced like it is spelled for us English speakers. Let us help: SEER-sha. Easy right? She broke into stardom as a young Briony in the World War II film, Atonement. Last year we loved her as Agatha in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Next we will see her in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River and as Mary Stuart in Mary Queen of Scots.

On Starring in Her 2015 Sundance Film Brooklyn: “”The town we shot in in Ireland was close to where I grew up, where I spent my childhood. Every second scene knocked me over by how it affected me.”